Post by Leon on May 7, 2012 12:43:11 GMT

You may have seen these names mentioned on your travels, Rumi, Gibran, Khayyam and Hafiz, they are but just a few of the sufi's throughout history to have made a mark on this world.

Sufism has come to mean a wide range of beliefs that center on the quest for personal enlightenment in the union with God. Sufis are sometimes described as the mystics of Islam, but Sufism fits awkwardly in the categories of religions. Technically Sufism is a denomination of Islam, however there are many Sufis that are not Muslims and there are many Muslims that are reluctant to consider Sufism part of Islam. One of the few concepts that Sufis seem to agree on is that all religions offer a path to salvation or enlightenment and that true God realization, no matter how it is achieved, transcends the limitations and classification of any religion.

Basically, a saint in any religion is equal to a saint in any other religion because they are inspired by the same Divine source. Initially the term Sufi referred only to those who had achieved God realization, but it has since come to be applied to anyone who follows that particular spiritual path. The name Sufi comes from “suf,” the Arabic word for wool or “saf,” the Persian word for pure. The dervishes or advanced students of Sufism wore inexpensive wool clothes as part of their life of renunciation.

Sufism and Islam

Sufism began as religious teachers in the Middle East came to learn the Truth of Islam directly from Mohammad. Masters who were “ordained” directly by Mohammad founded three major Sufi schools or orders. The most essential mystical knowledge was then passed down from each master to a disciple selected to follow as the leader of the school. Other disciples were sent out as masters to establish new schools. A Sufi school (ashram or convent) is often a community center that may include a residence for the students and master, a school, hospital, orphanage or any number of community services. Some of these services may be very modest and others may be very extensive, but they are often a vital part of the local community. Schools are sometimes set up near the tomb of a Sufi saint in order to maintain the shrine and provide services to pilgrims, including places to retreat and meditate. While mainstream Islam promotes community service, mosques rarely umbrella such services beyond theological schools since mainstream Islam distinguishes the needs of the spirit from the needs of the body.

There is no firm historical source for Sufism. Many of the early orders were considered an integrated part of Islam, but as teachings were codified and the elements of Shi’i and Sunni Islam became more distinct, Sufism emerged with an identity. One of the basic ideas of Sufism is to minimize the self or individual identity. Belonging to a particular group with a unique name is contradictory to this effort. It is said, “a Sufi is one who is not,” and with a philosophy that seeks the destruction of self-identity it is thought that Sufi’s received their name from outsiders. Initially the term Sufi referred only to those who had achieved God realization, but it has since come to be applied to anyone who follows that particular spiritual path.

While Sufism did not exist prior to Islam, Sufi doctrine contains many elements that go beyond the teaching of Mohammad. Islam is an external structure in which the individual exists while the internal quest for enlightenment belongs to a realm of Sufi knowledge. This knowledge integrates Islam and ancient doctrine that resembles elements of Greek Philosophy, Zoroastrianism and Hinduism that are part of the Sufi path to God-realization. The most sacred knowledge of the Sufi masters is not written and is passed to each generation orally, which makes it somewhat difficult to historically trace the evolution of Sufi doctrine. Nonetheless, it seems reasonable that the Sufi doctrine that differs the most from the rest of Islam had its beginnings much earlier (although this is a very non-Muslim view of Sufism). For many years these extra qualities created a great deal of friction between mainstream Islam and the Muslim mystics. After centuries of falling in and out of favor, Sufis became integrated and an important central part of Islamic culture and society.

A cornerstone of mysticism is that true knowledge of God is achieved directly and not through an intermediary like a prophet, saint or priest. Over the centuries this has led to a great deal of political conflict between mystics and non-mystics. If a cleric or Priest behaves or commands something that seems in conflict with dogma, the individual is not in a position to disagree as long as there is no direct relationship between God and the individual.

Many Sufi orders encourage honoring Saints and Prophets by visiting them if the are alive or their tombs if they have passed on. Pilgrims often will go to ask for favors in the form of miracles or prosperity. In many communities the pilgrims are people from other religions who come to the tombs in hopes of finding favor or receiving miracles. الحب

Post by aceofcups on Jun 8, 2012 2:09:56 GMT

One of My Favortie Sufi Poets is Rumi...

Sharing some of his poems:

AWAKE"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the door-sill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep".- Rumi.

ONLY BREATH

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not HinduBuddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion

or cultural system. I am not from the Eastor the West, not out of the ocean or up

from the ground, not natural or ethereal, notcomposed of elements at all. I do not exist,

am not an entity in this world or in the next,did not descend from Adam and Eve or any

origin story. My place is placeless, a traceof the traceless. Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved, have seen the twoworlds as one and that one call to and know,

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep ... People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don’t go back to sleep ... Rumi

Always live with an open heart. This means being available to both the outer and the inner worlds. The openness of the heart is nothing else but the vastness of pure awareness, the eternity of the present moment. Sahajananda

Post by seanagins on Feb 6, 2013 16:28:46 GMT

AWAKE"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the door-sill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep".- Rumi.

ONLY BREATH

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not HinduBuddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion

or cultural system. I am not from the Eastor the West, not out of the ocean or up

from the ground, not natural or ethereal, notcomposed of elements at all. I do not exist,

am not an entity in this world or in the next,did not descend from Adam and Eve or any

origin story. My place is placeless, a traceof the traceless. Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved, have seen the twoworlds as one and that one call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner, only thatbreath breathing human being.

Both from The Essential Rumiby Coleman Barks

I had remembered these poems when I was introduced to Colossians 1:15.Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

AWAKE "The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the door-sill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep". - Rumi.

Post by samicharni on Jun 25, 2013 0:08:42 GMT

The Lover.

The word sapiens means generally know (sapere), hence the word sophi which gives the word sophist, the all drift of the root s-ph = seph or saph, which means image or manifestation given that this word insinuates to unification (integration) by the principle of the totaling (complete image showing the whole subject).

The word seph or saph has a tendency towards emotional/love, thus the sapiens or the sophist is automatically considered as an affectionate or the one that links to the source, the unique (the Eternal).

Thus the sophist is an erudite and a lover; his love is canonized toward knowledge and his knowledge is concentrated on love. Love for him is one of the deepest representations of the Eternal: Emmanuel (Jesus) has given us the example.

Post by kenisha on Aug 4, 2014 14:15:36 GMT

Rumi is forever Guru for me. I found him when I was in Uni. I began to understand him more when I am in darkness place full of pain and suffering. Pain and suffering will open the gate of spirituality. He even helps me to understand the Koran more. He teachs me love and all the things I need to know.